Hurricane evacuees begin flights home from Kentucky Air Guard Base

  • Published
  • By Capt. Dale Greer
  • 123rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
KENTUCKY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, LOUISVILLE, Ky. --  Hundreds of New Orleans-area residents who were evacuated to Kentucky last week to escape Hurricane Gustav began boarding commercial airliners here today for return flights home.

The first 96 evacuees left the Kentucky Air Guard flightline at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time en route to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Four more flights followed in the afternoon, carrying an additional 770 passengers, officials said.

Outbound flights were expected to continue here on Sunday as the Kentucky Air Guard, the Red Cross and emergency management officials worked to return the evacuees to their homes. Since last week, nearly 1,500 Gulf Coast residents have been staying in a Red Cross shelter at the Kentucky Exposition Center.

More than 200 Kentucky Air Guard members have participated in the relief operation since Aug. 29.